ABSTRACT
In 1983, twelve hotels, ranging from four to a couple dozen rooms per hotel, accommodated tourists coming to the island. Caye Caulker has increasingly moved towards tourism as a source of income. Many young men and women are developing tourist businesses as a full-time occupation and some older men, who in their later years find fishing too physically taxing, are retiring to run hotels and other businesses. On Caye Caulker, foreign investment in tourist facilities has been discouraged, with islanders maintaining ownership of land and controlling investment in improvements on the land. Autonomy from exploitative foreign economies, local control of individual production and distribution, a balance between two sources of income, and compatibility with local ideals and organization are factors in the successful development of Caye Caulker. The most important change in the last decade is undoubtedly the result of an increasingly cash-oriented economy, bolstered by high lobster prices, and the growth of tourism.
